In late October, Luke and Vannah returned to the barn with a neighbor's dog, mistaken for a stray.
I contacted the owner and he proceeded to tell me that this is the 'dumbest dog he's ever met' and she's been hiding on our side of the road to avoid incarceration with a larger male dog who fought with her in the small chain link kennel. Gee, I wonder why she was hiding from her jailor and her rapist. Short Stop was very pregnant.
I offered to keep her a couple nights until the storms had passed.
For a dog that was dumb as a stump, she took to indoor living like a champ. For a dog who was supposedly a maniac on a leash, we walked her outside on lead ropes without problems. For a dog who would run at the first chance, as soon as I took off the shock collar she'd been found wearing, she never left my side.
Her owner finally came to claim her after a few days. The entire time of his 2 hour visit, she hid in a box cowering. He stayed while I fed the horses and I let him talk. Upon hearing that she was 'immune' to the highest setting on the shock collar and how she didn't learn her 'lesson' when he'd sprayed her in the face with pepper spray, I decided this dog was not having her puppies across the road.
The 'dumbest dog' in the world had been smart enough to find her way out of Hell. Nov 1, she was on her way to a new life.
I learned that her name was Fish. Boring, derogatory, stinky, yet she answered to it. I rechristened her Fish Stix.
I never realized how much a pregnant dog could eat. Her little frame consumed more food per day than Dax and Micah combined.
Since I've never had a pregnant dog in my care, I believed at any moment she was going to pop. For two weeks, I checked on her every 3 hours. I don't think I've ever seen such a grateful dog.
True to the natural order of things, she decided to go into labor on the coldest night yet. While I was busy shutting down irrigation systems and performing winterizing tasks thanks to an unpredicted 27'F; my friend Lisa swooped in to play midwife.
By 9 PM, Fish Stix had birthed 4 little guppies.
Lisa helped Fish Stix with the last puppy around 3 AM. 8 in all.
If I thought a pregnant dog ate a bunch, I was shocked to discover a lactating Fish Stix ate like a Saint Bernard.
She was the most attentive mom.
For 3 months, Fish Stix was the barn mascot, taking care of her babies, lounging on the couch, following us around the barn.
Around 4 weeks of age, I started supplementing the pups with solid food because Fish Stix couldn't eat enough to grow all her little barracudas.
8 healthy babies.
It was indeed a Merry Christmas at the barn.
Meet Fergus:
The rest of the litter was adopted out through the rescue run by a neighbor down the road. She exclusively specializes in puppies or small dogs. Through her organization, all the remaining puppies made a 2 day overland trip to their new adoptive homes above the Mason-Dixon line..
Talk about gut wrenching to drop all my babies off to get on the transport.
A bunch of Alabama kids in Jersey and New York now.
The question remained: what to do with Fish?
I couldn't keep her, Fish and Pippins didn't jive, at all.
A Georgia couple swooped in.
Fish Stix has spent 3 months in their foster care, she's now a civilized girl who loves to play with her big brother and snuggled with her foster dad and watch TV.
She's now ready for her forever home. Fostering family rehabs service dogs, so their plate is full. I don't know where to place her, my inner circle of folks at least have 2 dogs apiece; I have 9... shelters are overfilled.
Does anyone want a stout little Velcro dog to brighten up their lives?
Can anyone help place this 3 year old, Heartworm negative, spayed little girl? She's up to date on all her vaccinations too.
I could really use some help on this one...
